Welcome to our blog!

Menu

Canada has two official languages: English and French. Canadian French is the umbrella name of a number of dialects that that differ in its vocabulary and pronunciation from standard French (e.g., the French spoken in France and Belgium). The most important of these dialects are Québécois and Acadian.

In the early 17th century France founded two colonies in North America: ACADIA (in what is now Nova Scotia) and NEW FRANCE (in what is now the Province of Québec).

Brief History of Acadia

Like many other settlements in the New World, Acadia had a very tumultuous history as the object of territorial struggles between two rival European nations. Situated in the vicinity of the present day State of Delaware. The North Atlantic region of America was first explored by the Italian sailor Giovanni da Verrazzano for the King of France. You may have heard the name Verrazzano. It was immortalized in the name of the longest suspended bridge, the Verrazzano Narrows, that hangs over the mile -wide channel at the entrance to the New York Harbor.

The first organized French settlement in Acadia was founded in 1604 by Pierre du Gua de Monts and Samuel de Champlain, on the present U.S.-Canadian border. In 1605 the colony was moved to Port-Royal (now Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia).The French claimed for Acadia lands that had also been claimed by England and this launched the colony into a territorial that continued for decades, until King Charles I gave Acadia back to France. A renewal of French colonization ensued until 1636, when the region found itself in the middle of a civil war caused by a bitter power struggle between two of the colony’s leading French officials. From 1654 to 1670 Acadia was under British rule, but reverted to French rule where it remained for the next four decades.

Port Royal was captured by the British, during the War of the Spanish Succession (1701–14). The Treaty of Utrecht which concluded this war, gave Nova Scotia to Great Britain but left Cape Breton Island and Île Saint-Jean (from 1799 Prince Edward Island) with France. In 1755, as war with France became imminent, the British deported many French-speaking Acadians,who eventually found their way to French-ruled Louisiana, where their descendants became known as Cajuns. At the end of the French and Indian War in 1763, the North American phase of the war between England and France that began in 1754, Île Saint-Jean and Cape Breton Island also formally came under British rule; the province of New Brunswick was separated from Nova Scotia in 1784.

According to records for 1707, well over half of the settlers of Acadia came from provinces located in western France, south of the Loire River (primarily from Poitou, Aunis and Saintonge but also Guyenne and the Basque Country). The remainder of the settlers came from a variety of provinces located north of the Loire (Anjou/Maine/Touraine, Brittany, Normandy, Brie, Paris, Orléanais).

The early settlers of Acadia came from various regions in Europe (mostly from France). According to records for 1707, well over half of the settlers came from provinces located in western France, south of the Loire River (primarily from Poitou, Aunis and Saintonge but also Guyenne and the Basque Country). The remainder of the settlers came from a variety of provinces located north of the Loire (Anjou/Maine/Touraine, Brittany, Normandy, Brie, Paris, Orléanais).

New France

The name Gallia Nova (New France) was given to the region by the brother of Giovanni da Verrazano who explored the coasts of North America from present day Carolinas to Nova Scotia in 1524. Ten years later, French navigator and explorer, Jacques Cartier, sailed the North Atlantic Coast and arrived at the Gulf of St. Lawrence claiming the region for King Francis I of France. In the years that followed, Cartier continued his journey North to as far as where Montreal stands now and, along with Jean-François de La Rocque, sieur de Roberval., attempted to found a colony near what is now Quebec . The colony did not succeed, but it started the French fur trade with the Native Americans (First Nations) of the gulf and the river regions began.

Leading an expedition that left France in 1608, French explorer Samuel de Champlain founded the city of Quebec, selecting a commanding site that controlled the narrowing of the St. Lawrence River estuary, and consolidated the French colonies in the New World. In 1627, Cardinal Richelieu, chief minister of France, founded the Company of New France. Popularly known as the Company of the Hundred Associates (Compagnie des Cent-Associés), it was granted the colony of New France. Cardinal Richelieu was interested in controlling fur-trading monopolies. The Company was to have complete monopoly of the fur trade for 15 year, starting in 1629. In return, the Company was to attract 200 to 300 settlers per year.L ike Acadia, New France became the center of territorial struggles between France and England. In 1629 Quebec itself surrendered to the English. In 1632, it was restored by the Treaty of Saint-Germain. However, the Company never recovered, even though it controlled New France until 1663. Colonization was slow and the fur trade was highest on the list of everyone’s priorities except the missionaries.

War finally ended in 1763, when the Treaty of Paris gave all New France east of the Mississippi, outside the environs of New Orleans, was ceded to Great Britain. France was left with the small island of St. Pierre and Miquelon near Newfoundland, and the French fishing rights in Newfoundland. The more than 60,000 French Canadians living in what now became the province of Quebec, became British subjects.

Quebec French or Québécois

Most of the settlers who came to Canada during the 17th and 18th century probably spoke French, but at that time in Europe French had not replaced the dialects of Gallo Romance. In fact, these were still flourishing. Therefore, it is likely that, in addition to French, many of the colonists spoke the dialects of the regions that exported many of the settlers to New France, such as Normandy/Perche, Poitou, Aunis and Saintonge.

Québécois, differs from standard French in pronunciation and vocabulary. The following are some examples:

Quebecers tend to affricate1 dental stops – such as the consonants t and d before high front vowels and semivowels, like u and i, so the second person pronoun tu, represented by the phoneme /ty/ in French, becomes /tsy/ in Québécois. Example: tu es parti is pronounced tsu es partsi.

The masculine and feminine adjectives petit and petite, pronounced /p@ti/ and /p@tit/ in standard French, are pronounced /p@tsi/ and /p@tsIt/ in Québécois.

Long vowels and vowels pronounced with a nasal sound in standard French, are dipthongized in Québécois so, for example, père (father), /pE:r/ in France, becomes /pEjr/ in Québécois, and banque (bank), /ba~k/ in standard French, is pronounced /ba~w~k/ in Québécois.

Québécois often end their statements with T’sais (a contractionof tu sais – You know?).

Older speakers often roll the r instead of pronouncing it as a fricative, as in standard French.

English influence on Québécois: Franglais used in Quebec, examples are words like: slaquer, bummer, checker and phrases such as:.

avoir un good time

être cheap

être opène

faire son show

On the other hand, some of the Anglicisms that are frequent in standard French, have remained purely French in Québécois. For instance, in Quebec on separque dans un stationnement, while in France or Belgium on se gare dans un parking.

Examples of standard French Anglicisms that do not exist in Québécois:

Standard French

Québécois

English translation

week-end

fin de semaine

weekend

e-mail*

courriel

e-mail

Mèl*

courriel

e-mail

(*NB: France is promoting the use of courriel instead of e-mail.)

Other expressions are completely French, but derived from English. Example:

Stadard French

Québécois

English

Congère

Banc de neige

Snowbank

Examples of old-fashioned Québécois expressions:

English

QuébécoisS

Standard French

to wait

espérer

attendre

backyard

cour

jardin

courthouse

palais de justice

tribunal

Some Québécois idiomatic expressions do not exist in standard French. Examples:

Québécois idiom

English

mets-en

I’ll say

s’en venir

arrive, come here

fait que

so

The use of sacrer (as in sacre bleu! être en sacre (to be mad), etc.) is also inherent to Québécois. The familiar pronoun tu is used more frequently in Québécois than in standard French.

The following is a list of English words and how they translate into standard French and Québécois:

In English…

En France…

Au Québec…

small shop

un petit magasin

un dépanneur

agreed

c’est d’accord

tiguidou

at this time

à cette heure

asteure

bank

une banque

une caisse populaire

beer

une bière

une broue

bicycle

une bicyclette

un bécyque

blueberry

une myrtille

un bluet

breakfast

le petit déjeuner

le déjeuner

cap

une casquette

une calotte

car

une automobile

un char

cat

un chat

un minou

cranberry

une airelle

une canneberge

dinner

le dîner

le souper

dog

un chien

un pitou

dollar

un dollar

une piastre

film, movie

un film

une vue

flashlight

une lampe-torche

une lampe de poche

lunch

le déjeuner

le dîner

money

de l’argent

des bidoux / du foin

not at all

pas du tout

pantoute

not too bad

c’est pas terrible

c’est pas varjeux

now

maintenant

présentement

rains

il pleut

il mouille

refrigerator

un réfrigérateur

un frigidaire

stop

le stop

l’arrêt

thing

une chose

une patente

to caress, stroke

caresser

minoucher

to cry

pleurer

brailler

to disturb someone

déranger quelqu’un

achaler / gosser

to do the shopping

faire ses emplettes

faire ses commissions ou son épicerie

to drive a car

conduire un véhicule

chauffer

to get in (a car)

monter (dans une voiture)

embarquer (dans un char)

to get out (of a car)

descendre (d’une voiture)

débarquer (d’un char)

to go shopping

se promener dans les magasins

magasiner

to look off color, under the weather

avoir mauvaise mine

faire dur

to look tired

avoir l’air fatigué

avoir les yeux dans la graisse de binnes

toys

des jouets

des bébelles

weekend

le week-end

la fin de semaine

you are nice

tu es gentil

tu es fin

you’re welcome

de rien

bienvenu

Acadian French:

Acadian was the language spoken by the French pioneers who settled Nova Scotia in the 17th Century. Expelled by the British in 1755, the Acadians scattered among the thirteen English colonies, from Massachusetts to Georgia and to Europe. Acadian French is the ancestor of Cajun, a French dialect of Louisiana.

The Acadians were allowed to return to Nova Scotia in 1764. However, they were not allowed to form large settlements and many of their former farms and villages had been occupied by British settlers, so they were forced to relocate in the less fertile areas along the coast. Today more than 40,000 Acadians may be found in various areas of Nova Scotia, such as the counties of Digby, Guysborough, Yarmouth, Richmond and Iverness, in Isle Madame (the largest island in an archipelago situated off the southwest coast of Cape Breton Island) and in the urban regions of Halifax-Dartmouth and Sydney.

Acadian French is a descendant of the French dialects of Anjou and Poitou, and retains some of the features that were eliminated from standard French during the standardization efforts of the 19th century, including an alveolar r, and the pronunciation of the final syllable in the third person plural verb form. Many French speakers find Acadian French archaic – reminiscent of the language of .Molière and Rabelais – and difficult to understand.

The following is a list of Acadian expressions with their standard French translation and direct translation (and interpretation) in English:

Acadian French expression

In standard French

Literal English translation and interpretation

C’est poin la marre a boire.

C’est pas la mer a boire.

It’s not like drinking the sea. (It is not a big deal.).

C’ti la qui veut toute parre toute.

Celui qui désire tout, perds tou.

He who wants everything, loses everything.

Chuési prend pire

Choisi prend pire.

What is chosen is the worst. (Be careful what you wish for.)

C’est l’ezo qui s’leve tôt qu’attrape la lége.

C’est l’oiseau qui se lève tôt qu’attrape la lège

It is the bird that rises early that catches the light. (The early bird gets the worm.)

C’est seulement en forgeant que l’on devient forgeron

C’est rinque en forginw qu’on edvin forgerinw.

It is only by doing that we learn. (Learn by doing.)

C’est la plume qui fait l’ezo.

C’est la plume qui fait l’oiseau.

Feathers make the bird. (Clothes make the man/woman.)

Gratter des coques a marée haute.

Arracher des coques a marée haute.

Digging clams at high tide. (A difficult task.)

Te far prende avec les chulottes abâs.

Te faire prendre au dépourvu.

Getting caught with your pants down.

Baille’i dla botte.

Donne lui de la botte.

Give him boot. (Give it all you’ve got.)

Gas à la place. (Gas in place.)

L’accélérateur au fond. (The accelerator at the bottom.)

Pedal to the metal.

Ça fra ça que ça fra.

Ça fera ce que ça fera.

(Whatever will be will be.)

Par la cheue d’sa chmise.

Par la queue de sa chemise

By the shirt tail. (By the seat of the pants.)

La brume su l’échine.

La brume dur le dos (pressé).

Fog hardens the back. (In a rush.)

Chins des beurtelles.

Tiens tes bretelles.

Hold on to your straps.

Chins tes chulottes.

Tiens des pantalons.

Keep your pants on

Hâle tes cans. (Tan your edges.)

Allons! Hâte!

Come on! Hurry!

Ça sounne la ‘tin can’.

Ça sonne comme une boîte en fer blanc.

That sounds like a tin can.

Ej nous r’warrinw.

On se reverra.

We’ll see each other again. (We’ll meet again.)

C’est wôuellment cheute-affarre.

C’est vraiment quelque chose.

It is really something.

Grand djeu de djeu!

Grand Dieu de Dieu!

Great God of God. (Good Lord.)

Saquerjé.

Sacré Dieu!

Good Lord!

C’est in point-d’esprit. (It is in point-of spirit. )

Il est quelqu’un à l’esprit lent.(He is someone with a slow spirit.)

(He is a bit slow.)

H’en ai une tapée.

J’en ai beaucoup.

I have many.

À la sainte et bounne heure.

À la Sainte et Bonne Heure.

With Holy and Good Hour. (All in good time.)

Y mouille à boire deboute.

Il pleut à boire debout.

It is raining enough to drink standing up.

Y grouille coumme dla m’lasse dans janvier

Il bouge lentement comme de la molasse en janvier.

He moves as slow as molasses in January.

Le temps m’dure.

Que le temps me dure.

That time may last me. (I can’t wait.)

Dar-dye!

Mon Dieu!

Oh my!

C’est du temps dl’arche.

C’est du temps de l’arche.

From the time of the Arc. (From Biblical times.)

Djâble le sait.

Le Diable le sait

The Devil knows.

Cheuil compâssion

Quelle compassion

What compassion. (What a case!)

Véter pendu.

Je veux être pendu.

I want to be hanged. (I’ll be darned.)

I’ a pouonne inventé le boutinw à quatre trous.

Il n’a pas inventé le bouton à quatre trous.

He did not invent the button with four holes. (He is not the sharpest pencil in the box.)

The lip at the bottom of twenty-nine. (Long in the tooth or has a long face)

Quand c’qui lâ dequois à la téte, il lâ poin aux pieds.

Quand il a quelque chose dans la tête, il ne l’a pas aux pieds.

When he has something in his head, he does not have it with the feet. (When his mind is made up, there is no changing it.)

Être ‘poin su son assiette.

Pas sur son assiette.

Not on his plate (Not in a good mood.)

Pauvre coumme in rat d’église.

Pauvre comme un rat d’église.

Poor as a church rat. (Poor as a church mouse.)

Pour l’amour de Djeu.

Pour l’amour de Dieu.

For the love of God.

Véter damné.

Je veux être damné.

(I’ll be darned.)

Que l’bon Djeu te bénisse et que l’Djâble te cobisse.

Que le bon Dieu te bénisse, et que le Diable t’estropie.

May the Good Lord bless you and the Devil cripple you.

Although there are considerable differences in pronunciation and vocabulary, Canadian French (Québécois) and standard French are mutually understandable. This is partly because most of the French citizens who immigrated to Canada over time came from areas outside of Paris and, during the French Revolution, their dialect would become the national language of France. Quebecois French is also partly based on the Royal French spoken by the King’s Daughters (les filles du roi), women of marrying age who were sent to the colony of New France in the mid-seventeenth century, under the royal auspices of the Court of King Louis XIV, to correct the imbalance that existed between the sexes. Some of these women were Parisian orphans; others were recruited from the areas of La Rochelle and Rouen.

Therefore, if your target audience is the French-speaking public of Canada, we recommend translating your message into Canadian French (Québécois). However, if your audience is the French-speaking public in general and your budget is limited, then standard French is a better choice. InterSol will assist you in the selection of the appropriate language version for the your intended the target audience, taking into account budgetary considerations.